Kudos, February 2018

MOSCOW FESTIVAL BALLET

The Moscow Festival Ballet, presented by Turnaround Artists, performed its rendition of the timeless fairy tale “Cinderella” at the Visalia Fox Theatre on Feb. 4.

To the delight of the audience, a fairy godmother, an evil stepmother, a charming prince, two wicked stepsisters and the lovely Cinderella danced to life onstage to Sergei Prokofiev’s melodic and triumphant score.

THE ORANGE BLOSSOM QUILTERS GUILD

The Orange Blossom Quilt Guild is a nonprofit organization that serves as a “teaching” guild that promotes fellowship and education pertaining to quilts and quilting. Members try to preserve and continue the rich traditions, culture and history of the quilting world by contributing to the knowledge of and appreciation for fine quilts.

Paula Lovett is president of the guild and has lived in the area for 40 years. She has been sewing since junior high, as well as quilting for 19 years. Lynn Drennen-Guritz prefers art quilting to traditional piecing. She was partners on a quilt in 2008 that won multiple national and international awards over a three-year period. Sheryl Montanez is a local sewing and quilting artist who currently serves as a member of two local quilt guilds. Her first personal accomplishment was a southern belle ball gown and Confederate Army uniform for a Civil War-era reenactment club, winning her second place for authenticity in 1978. Sheryl created her first quilt, an Eleanor Burns “Quilt in a Day” log cabin in 1987 and has been quilting ever since. She has shown quilts in the Best of the Valley Quilt Show and earned a second-place ribbon for a portrait quilt of her mother in 2012. Juanita Cairns spent 38 years as an educator. After retiring, she returned to sewing and discovered quilting. She is a very eclectic quilter, making everything from traditional pieced quilts to art quilts. Juanita has found joy in teaching quilting to others through classes in design, embroidery, free motion, thread painting and portraits.

These are a few of the quilters who participated in the quilt exhibition at Arts Visalia in January.